For some medical procedures, limiting the use of an electrically-powered medical tool may be desirable. To limit the use of an electrically-powered medical tool, an electrical connector, configured to supply electrical power to the medical tool for only a pre-determined number of uses, can be coupled to the medical tool. After the pre-determined number of uses is reached, the electrical connector prevents the supply of electrical power to the medical tool.
For some electrical connectors configured to limit the use of an electrically-powered medical tool, the use-limiting features of the connectors can be relatively easily circumvented by manipulating or modifying the features. By circumventing the use-limiting features, the electrical connector may be modified to supply electrical power to the medical tool beyond the pre-determined number of uses. Exceeding the pre-determined number of uses can introduce various undesirable consequences, such as unsanitary medical tools, product liability risks, and manufacturer profitability losses.
Additionally, determining the number of uses left in certain electrical connectors configured to limit the use of an electrically-powered medical tool is difficult. For example, in some such electrical connectors, without manually counting the uses, only the states of “live” and “expired” were determinable. In other words, conventional electrical connectors configured to limit the use of an electrically-powered medial tools to multiple uses have no capability to discern how many “lives” or “uses” remain and/or have been used.